- News>
- Literary Corner
Actress Hepburn revealed in Posthumous Biography
New York, July 12: Katharine Hepburn, who died less than two weeks ago aged 96, will reveal her most intimate thoughts about an intensely private life Friday in a book the actress only wanted released after her death.
"For more than 20 years, Katharine Hepburn imparted many of the details of her life to me, suggesting that I weave them into a book -- one that would appear upon her death," Berg said in a statement from the publisher.
"Sad to say, the time has come to publish that book."
The book reveals untold details about Hepburn`s career and her famous relationships with such men as movie star Spencer Tracy and recluse Howard Hughes, according to the publisher.
Berg, who began his relationship with Hepburn in 1983 when she was 75 and he was 33, also details her final years, away from the spotlight.
He wrote most of the book between 1999 and 2001 and the publisher agreed to Hepburn`s demand that it not be published or even discussed until her death. He said he wrote the book`s final paragraphs in the last weeks of her life.
"Kate often suggested the importance of publishing a book right away because she presumed there would be many books about her over the years," Berg said.
"She presumed they would be filled with the same misstatements of facts that have appeared for years."
Berg won a National Book Award for his 1978 book "Max Perkins: Editor of Genius" and a Pulitzer for a 1998 biography of "Lindbergh," the famed U.S. aviator.
Berg said he formed a special bond with four-time Academy Award winner Hepburn during the course of the friendship.
The author said he had the rare opportunity to "spend so many hours with my subject at a time when she was really thinking her life through."
"I honestly think I`m the only person with whom she used her time to reflect, to analyze," said Berg, who called the book a "funny hybrid -- part biography and part memoir."
"For the most part, I`m merely reporting," he said. Bureau Report